If It's Alright
by Liz Hollow
Summary: It was going to be the perfect birthday for Hermione. She was going to get married in a week. But times had changed. He wasn't the person he had used to be. She had to leave, to figure her life out.


**If It's Alright**

"_Hermione," a voice whispered in my ear. I turned around, my chocolate colored hair most likely whipping whoever was there in the face. But they didn't say anything. I looked up at the person, and I could say that I was shocked to see whom it was. He never surprised me. But then, it was my birthday, and I was particularly looking forward to this one. Just because it was my fifth birthday out of Hogwarts. I had been out of Hogwarts for five years already! How the time flies by. It really does. It feels like I had just been at Hogwarts._

"_Good morning, Draco," I greeted him, and he looked down at me. I had just woken up, and I was still lying in my bed. Draco was holding a tray full of food. He made me breakfast! He had never made me breakfast before, in the year I had been dating him. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy? Time are a-changing, I know we weren't really fans of each other at Hogwarts, but I had gotten a job at the _Daily Prophet_, and who happened to be already working there? Yes, Draco Malfoy._

_I had to at least try to be nice to him. We were co-workers, and personally, I believe that co-workers should treat each other with the utmost respect. He thought differently. And then, I either did something incredibly stupid, or just something that made this all happen. I scheduled a lunch with him. You see, we have this thing at the _Daily Prophet_ where—if you are working on the same article (which we were)—you have to schedule a lunch to discuss it. It's part of that whole "let's-bond-because-we're-co-workers" deal. Anyways, I scheduled it, and that's when it happened. We had such good ideas. We discussed the article, and it was _perfect_. Seriously. And then he was so much nicer to me—partially because we got a raise because of it. But then he couldn't stop being nice to me. And he started using my real name. Then, he asked me out to dinner. And we've been together for a year now._

"_Happy birthday," he said, and gave me a peck on the lips. "How does it feel to be twenty-three? Oh, and I have an early in the morning birthday present for you. And the breakfast doesn't count. Even though I _slaved_ over it all this morning." He said, and handed me the breakfast. It did look delicious, but a part of me believed that he did not make the breakfast himself. The cheater. He grinned at me, and walked out of the room._

"_Oh, you're terrible," I joked, and started picking at the food on the tray. Bacon, a ham and cheddar cheese omelette, a cup of coffee (a little bit of cream, and a teaspoon of sugar), French toast, a waffle with chocolate chips in the shape of a heart, and sausage. I would not be able to eat all of this. I hope he wouldn't mind. If I ate all of that, I might as well just throw up now. It was so much. Just looking at how much food was crammed onto the trap made me want to throw up. And the smell didn't help. It made me _want_ to eat all of it._

"_Okay, close your eyes," Draco snickered, coming back into the room. I smiled sarcastically, but closed my eyes anyways. "Okay, now don't look. I'll tell you when to open your eyes. Not now. Not yet. Don't you dare, Hermione Granger!" I laughed as I snuck a peek at where he was. "Close your eyes. I'm serious, keep them close. Just a few more seconds. It's well worth it. When you close your eyes, everything disappears. You can think of whatever you want to. Okay, now you can open them."_

_And I did, letting a little gasp escape from my lips. He was down on one knee, holding a little box. He opened the box, and I sat up in my bed to get a better look. There was a diamond ring in the box, and, my God, it was huge! I'm not joking, the diamond was probably the size of one of my pinky fingernail. It was beautiful. It really was. I could feel my face turning bright red, and the tears coming._

"_Hermione Jane Granger. Will you marry me?" Draco asked. His voice was a little shaky, I could tell, and his hands were shaking as he held the box._

"_Yes," I nodded, and he slipped the ring on my finger._

I should've known the day we met  
The way you turned and waved at me I never will forget  
Two years later who'd of guessed  
That we would make it this far just to put it all to rest

I looked back at Draco, and at the ring on my finger. The diamond ring that he had given me a year ago today. My birthday. He was lying in bed, still asleep. No breakfast in bed this year. No hug, no kiss. He couldn't do any of that while he was still asleep. I crept out of the bed and went downstairs to pour myself a cup of coffee. I heated a cup with my wand, and took a sip, pouring some cream and sugar into it. It was warm to my lips, and I could feel it slipping down my throat. It felt good.

I heard someone coming down the stairs, and looked to see a sleepy Draco coming down the stairs. He waved at me, and I frowned. Our wedding was a week away. A week and two days, to be precise. We were both taking the next few weeks of work off so we could do finishing touches on our wedding, and go on our honeymoon to Germany after the wedding. It was going to be perfect. At least, I hoped it would be.

We had sent out all of the invitations ages ago. A few people called to say they wouldn't be able to make it. Harry Potter, one of my best friends said that he could come, that he _would_ come, but my other best friend, Ronald Weasley, said he couldn't. And I knew why. He didn't want to see me making vows to Draco Malfoy, and not him. He loved me. That was why.

And if it's alright I'll stay until it's late  
Until you tell me that it's time that we moved on  
And if it takes all night I'll wait here till the daylight  
So that I can see that we just don't belong  
It's alright we were wrong

_He never surprised me._

"Good morning Draco," I smiled at him, baring my teeth and all. He groaned back, and I crossed my arms. "How did you sleep?" He shrugged, and I rolled my eyes. Typical. He had been doing this for the past two months. As if he had been doing all of the wedding planning. I had been working on the wedding twenty-four seven. I worked on it while I was at the _Daily Prophet_ office, I worked on it at night, and I worked on it while I wasn't at the _Daily Prophet_ office. I had been working on it everyday. He hadn't.

"Could you tell me what today is?" I asked him, and he scratched his head tiredly. He poured himself a cup of coffee, heated it up and poured sugar and cream into it, just as I had. He sniffled, and blinked a few time before giving me an answer.

"A Tuesday?" he said. Actually, it was more like _asked_. That wasn't the answer I had hoped for. Not at all. It wasn't even a Tuesday. It was a Friday. I shook my head at him, and asked for the date, and he considered this. "September twenty-first?"

Oh, so he didn't even know that today was my birthday. He didn't even know that, if today _was_ September twenty-first, that my birthday had already past. Good for him. God. "It's September nineteenth, Draco. It's a Friday. Friday, September nineteenth. What's on September nineteenth? Something that I'm pretty sure you forgot about?" I snapped, and he blinked again. "It's my _birthday_, Draco. Thank you so much for remembering. Do you even remember what's a week and two days away?"

"Our wedding. I'm sorry, Hermione. I really am sorry. I don't know how I could've forgotten your birthday. But with all of this wedding shit, it's hard for me to remember anything at the given time," he said, not very apologetically, but whatever. I was already mad at him.

"It's not _shit_, Draco. This is our wedding. What we are planning, is what is going to connect us for the rest of our lives. It's not shit. And personally, I feel that I've been doing a hell of a lot more work than you have on this wedding. I've been planning this whole thing," I said, and he sighed. This was not working out.

If you're crazy then I'm insane  
Two people with the same condition, it never goes away  
It's not our problem anymore  
But let's just call it even when I'm walking out that door  
And oh, it won't be easy 'cause it was hard from the start

"Hermione, listen to me. I'm sorry. I've been working, and you know that. I'm sorry if I haven't been working on the wedding as much as you would've wanted me to. It's not my fault, Hermione. Don't get mad at me. You are the one who agreed to marry me," he growled back, and my jaw dropped. So now it was my fault. It was my fault we were fighting. It was my fault that we were getting married.

"_Hermione Jane Granger. Will you marry me?" Draco asked. His voice was a little shaky, I could tell, and his hands were shaking as he held the box._

"So you don't want to get married at all?" I asked him, and he didn't say anything. "You are so… argh! I have to go, Draco. I have to just, get out." I walked back up to our room, and with a flick of my wand, packed all of my clothes into two suitcases. I didn't want to leave. I really didn't. But if he couldn't tell me what I wanted to hear, then I would have to go. This wasn't going to be easy.

And if it's alright I'll stay until it's late  
Until you tell me that it's time that we moved on  
And if it takes all night I'll wait here till the daylight  
So that I can see that we just don't belong  
It's alright we were wrong

I walked back downstairs, bags in tow, and looked at him. He was staring at me as I came down the stairs into the kitchen, and I frowned at him. I'd waited so long for him. I'd waited, and I needed to hear that he didn't want me around anymore. I just needed to hear him say it. So that I knew that it would be alright. Because it would. If he said it I would be fine.

But he didn't. He just stared at me for a minute. I took off my ring, looking at it for a moment. He had proposed to me a year ago today, and he didn't even remember. I touched the diamond, as I did whenever I took it off or put it on. Then, I set it down on the counter, and looked back up at him. He seemed fairly nervous, and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

_And I did, letting a little gasp escape from my lips. He was down on one knee, holding a little box. He opened the box, and I sat up in my bed to get a better look. There was a diamond ring in the box, and, my God, it was huge! I'm not joking, the diamond was probably the size of one of my pinky fingernail. It was beautiful. It really was. I could feel my face turning bright red, and the tears coming._

I shook my head at him, and headed out the door, carrying my suitcases. He followed me, just for a moment to watch me walk out the door. I didn't apparate anywhere. I just walked. I needed to just walk for a while. I needed to get it out of my system.

Must've met for some reason  
It's in the sky  
Something from up high  
We must have lived for some reason  
It wasn't a lie  
It just wasn't right  
It just wasn't right

It was cloudy out, the sky gray. It looked as though it was about to rain, and, sure enough, five minutes later, it did. But I kept walking. I closed my eyes for a moment, and just took it all in. It was going to be alright. It was. I felt it. As the rain hit my cheeks, and my lips, I tasted the rain. It felt cool on my body, and tasted like tears. Only, it wasn't the rain I was tasting. It _was_ my own tears.

My hair was damp now, it began to rain even harder. I closed my eyes again, and kept walking forward. My legs were working on their own now, and I felt alone. I heard nothing. Not the rain, not my footsteps. I heard nothing. And it felt good. It felt really good.

"_Close your eyes. I'm serious, keep them close. Just a few more seconds. It's well worth it. When you close your eyes, everything disappears. You can think of whatever you want to. Okay, now you can open them."_

And I opened my eyes, finding myself facing Ronald Weasley's house. I must've apparated there without even knowing it. Maybe that's why I heard nothing. Or maybe I just blanked out, and apparated there. I apparated there out of knowledge that he'd help.

And if it's alright I'll stay until it's late  
Until you tell me that it's time that we moved on  
And if it takes all night I'll wait here till the daylight  
So that I can see that we just don't belong

I found myself knocking on his door, drenched in water. The makeup I was wearing was probably running down my face. I didn't start wearing makeup until last year, when Draco had suggested it. I tried wiping it off of my face, but knew that I was only making it worse. I probably looked like a sad clown. Great. That's just what I needed. It was my birthday, I had no home, and I had just broken up with my fiancée. This was the greatest birthday ever.

"Hermione…" Ron said, opening up the door. His hair was still bright red, but his freckles—the freckles that I had loved so much—were gone. He looked his age now, and he was probably three or four inches taller than I was. I had to look up to look into his eyes. His blue eyes, which were full of concern. "Hermione…what are you… happy birthday, but what…"

At least he had remembered. But of course he had. He probably had it marked on his calendar, circled in hearts or something. Oh Ron. Poor Ron. I had been wrong, this whole time. I hadn't loved Draco. It just felt so good to think I had, that I didn't even realize that I hadn't. I had loved Ron, this whole time. And I had broken his heart. He didn't even want to come to my wedding.

_Harry Potter, one of my best friends said that he could come, that he would come, but my other best friend, Ronald Weasley, said he couldn't. And I knew why. He didn't want to see me making vows to Draco Malfoy, and not him. He loved me. That was why._

"There isn't a wedding anymore, Ron. There isn't anything. I was wrong, the whole time. I'm sorry. I am so, so, so sorry. I really am. I should've known it was you," I said, and he just stared back at me, utterly confused. I felt the tears streaming down my face. And even though it was raining, I knew it was my tears this time. I knew that I was crying. I think Ron did too.

And if it's alright I'll stay until it's late  
Until you tell me that it's time that we moved on  
And if it takes all night I'll wait here till the daylight  
So that I can see that we just don't belong  
It's alright we were wrong  
It's alright we were wrong  
It's alright we were wrong  
Oh… it's alright we were wrong

"Hermione, I…" he didn't finish his sentence. He pulled me into a hug, and then patted my wet hair. He pulled me inside his small house, out of the rain. "Hermione, it's going to be alright. It's okay that you were wrong. Because Malfoy was wrong, and I was wrong, and…we were all wrong. We all loved the wrong people. I tried to love someone else after you got engaged to Malfoy…but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to accept the invitation to your wedding."

I understood. I did. He tried to move on after he lost me, but he couldn't. He couldn't move on. Because in his heart, he knew he loved me. I think I did too, but I couldn't bring myself to admit it. That was it. I couldn't bring myself to admit it. I was scared. I was being a coward; too afraid to admit my feelings for him. Because I really did love you. I didn't really love Draco. That's why it was so easy to say yes.

"_Yes," I nodded, and he slipped the ring on my finger._

"I know. It's alright…" I muttered, and cried into his chest again. And he just hugged me, without saying another word. He didn't have to. I knew what he was saying already.

I should've known the day we met…

--------------------------------

**Author's Note:** I love this song. Seriously. It's called _If It's Alright_, by Lindsay Lohan. You know what? I love her. I think she has some really great songs, and she has a great voice. I don't care what other people say. It's a really cute song, you have to admit that. Anyways, now that I'm done raving about that…

I wrote this all in, like, four hours. It was kind of challenging, in a way. I had to fit the story in with the words. I did a little past thing in the beginning, and in throughout the whole story, I put little inserts from the past part, and from other parts of the story, and just repeated them. I dunno. I just thought that that would be a cool idea. It worked out really well, I thought.

Anyways, the song belongs to Lindsay Lohan, and the characters and stuff belongs to J.K. Rowling. The plot, however, belongs to me. I came up with the idea first. Bwah ha ha.


End file.
